Rusta Iira
by Princess Tyler Briefs
Summary: *Non-Slash, no matter what some characters may think* Hate is a hard lesson, to learn or unlearn. And even the Shire has predjiduce...a Merry and Pip friendship story unlike most you've ever read *NOW COMPLETE!*
1. Hate Hurts

A/N: This story is a little different than my others. Okay, a lot different. This story is Pre-Fellowship, and, well...it's about two years before Bilbo leaves, so if you can figure out the hobbit ages for me I would appreciate it.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, J.R.R. Tolkien does. I am simply writing this to sharpen my writing skills and give myself more Lord of the Rings stuff to read, as I've read the books three times and things are getting a little monotonous. So we add more stuff ^_^.  
  
Summery: Even the Shire has its prejudice, as young hobbits learn. Brandybucks are different from their Shire cousins, everyone knows that, and it's best for young hobbits to stay away from them. A tale of Merry and Pippin friendship like you've never read before!  
  
Rusta Iira (Broken Eternity)  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 1: Hate hurts  
  
"Frodo, the door!" Bilbo yelled from his study, but the young hobbit was all ready on his way to answer it.   
"Coming, half a minute!" That type of knocking meant one of three things. Either Pippin was at the door, Merry was at the door, or both of them where. Everyone else in the Shire (with the exception of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, who yelled as well as knocked) would knock once politely every two minutes or so instead of a constant loud tap tap. Frodo laid his hand on the smooth knob, turned it, and pulled the green door inward.   
"Pippin, how many times have I told you..." Frodo's reprimand died on his lips as he took in the entire scene in front of him, instead of just his young cousin's face. Pippin was standing in front, his hazel eyes wide and confused. Leaning on his shoulders behind him, was Merry. Merry looked very much like he'd single handedly tried to stop a rampaging pony. His left arm was hanging uselessly at his side, while the other rested on Pippin's shoulder for support. One eye was beginning to swell, already turning a nasty greenish color, and he was covered head to foot in mud, dust, and dried blood.  
"Merry! What happened?"   
"Tell you..." the boy wheezed, wincing every time he spoke or even breathed, "inside..." Frodo simply nodded, and bent slightly so that Merry could lean on him instead of the unsteady Pippin.  
"Run down the hall now Pip, like a good lad, and fetch Uncle Bilbo. Then run round back and see if you can find Samwise the gardener." Dark curls bobbed and small bare feet scampered, and soon the young hobbit was out of site. Frodo led his limping cousin into the kitchen, and sat him down in a chair by the fire.  
"Now, Meriadoc, what happened?" He asked, as he placed the ever-full water kettle on the fire to warm it.   
"Ted." Merry grunted, as if that would explain everything. Frodo looked at him, blue eyes showing obvious curiosity and disapproval.   
"Ted as in Ted Sandyman, the millers son? Where you fighting with him? Merry you know better than too..." Merry gave him the fiercest look he could with a half swollen face.   
"He attacked me...Frodo...I didn't...throw...a...punch..." each word was draining Merry of what little energy he seemed to have, but his eyes showed that he thought this was clearly important for him to understand. "He...beat me...and...no one...stopped...'cause I'm...a...Brandybuck." Having said that, he laid his head back and panted, so he didn't see Frodo's face drain of color and light eyes widen as he finished.   
"Oh Merry." Was all he could find to say, as Bilbo came in, panting.  
"What's going on Frodo-lad?" He looked over toward Merry, who was staring evenly back at him. "Leaping Dragons! Meriadoc you are a mess!"   
"Ted Sandyman beat him, Uncle. Because of his surname." There was a hint of anger in Frodo's voice about the last statement, and his eyes darkened. He, being half Brandybuck himself, could not understand what a name had to do with anything. He was well liked enough, but had his name been that of his mother and not his father he believed it would be otherwise.   
"And no one stopped to help him?" Bilbo asked, aghast. "It must have been in the middle of the market in town, for you to get here when you did if I judge your cuts right."   
"It was..." Merry assented painfully, "and no one...batted...an eye...though they did...a lot of head turning." Bilbo became red faced and sputtering.  
"Surly someone must have...perhaps they thought you were only playing?" Merry narrowed his eyes at Bilbo's determination to defend the Hobbiton hobbits.   
"Not with what...he was yellin'..." Bilbo was about to ask the boy to expand upon this statement, but wisely stopped when Pippin came rushing in followed closely by Sam.  
"How is he Frodo?" Pippin asked eagerly, rushing to his cousin's side. Frodo, unwilling to admit they had not even begun to check him over, gave the small hobbit a reassuring smile.  
"I'm sure he'll be fine Pip, but I need Sam to check him over to be sure." The hobbit in question was all ready almost finished inspected the battered Brandybuck.  
"That bruise'll be nasty and sore for a few days, Mister Merry, and you need bandages on some of those cuts. An' you've bruised up some of your ribs, that's why you can' breath rightly, but nothing lasting." The Gardner told his patient wisely. His mother had been a healer, and he knew the trade well for he'd helped her with many a patient when he was small. Merry nodded painfully. Frodo gave Sam some bandages and a soft rag soaked in the warm water to wash the worst wounds, before dumping the rest in a tub for Merry to wash himself in.   
"You need to relax now Mister Merry," Sam said gently, as Frodo worked to delicately remove his cousin's outer wear. "Don' fight against Mister Frodo, it'll only make it hurt more."  
"Can't I...do this in...private?" Merry groaned, his own modesty taking over the want of his aching muscles to feel the warm water. Frodo gave him a small smile.   
"What if it's just me Merry? Would that be better?" Merry nodded, and Frodo shooed the rest out of the kitchen. When all three where safely outside, and the door shut tight, Pippin turned to the older hobbits who where discussing something in whispers.   
"Uncle Bilbo?" The young child asked, cocking his head to one side. The wizened hobbit looked down at the innocent young eyes with a small smile.  
"Yes, little one?"  
"What's a whore?" Sam's eyes widened as Bilbo's eyes narrowed.   
"Where'd you hear a word like that, Peregrin?" The young hobbit turned innocent eye to Bilbo.  
"Don't be mad at me Uncle Bilbo! Ted called Merry something that I didn't understand that made everyone gasp. It made Merry awfully upset, he was clenching his fists and everything, but told me to just ignore him. Then he asked me, in a real loud voice, if I liked being the Brandybuck's little whore, and Merry whirled around and screamed at him to take that back. So I wanted to know what a whore was." Sam's face had gone white, and his eyes were flashing with anger.  
"That Ted Sandyman's got some nerve! He shouldn' be..." Bilbo gave him a look, and Sam quickly fell silent.  
"Don't you worry your little head about it Pippin, love. It's nothing to be worried about, and it's not true." Pippin nodded, with the most solemn face he could muster.  
"Yes uncle Bilbo."  
  
Inside the kitchen, Merry had been telling Frodo the same story, the warm water having eased his breathing.  
"And then he yells, for the whole of Hobbiton to hear, 'Oi, Pippin! Do you enjoy being the Brandybuck's little whore?' Luckily, Pip has no idea what that means." Frodo's eyes narrowed with anger at the though of anyone saying something like that about his innocent little cousin. "So I whirled around and yelled at him to take it back that instant. I couldn't let him insult Pip. So he just grins and mutters something I didn't catch, but I knew it wasn't an apology. So I told him that he better take it back before I made him, and he tackled me. And I knew you'd be mad at me if I fought, Frodo, so I let him beat me around good, though I made sure he didn't get to Pippin no matter how he tried. He might have gotten smacked by my fists a few times as I tried to push him off, but I never actually hit him."  
"Well Merry," Frodo said, handing him a soft towel, "next time anyone says something like that about you or Pippin, you now have my permission to place them back in line." Merry gave him a heart felt grin, and took the towel from Frodo.   
"Don't worry Frodo, I will." 


	2. Sunny Summer Explinations

A/N: Thanks to all who have/will review this story for it is very much appreciated. This takes place one month after the first chapter.  
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 2: Sunny Summer Explanations (say that five times fast!)  
  
The sun was beginning to creep over the treetops, and her smiling face was peeking curiously at the four already stirring hobbit-lads on the banks of the creek.   
Sam was sitting as far from the bank as he could, leaning against a tall oak and staring up into the green branches. He still could not figure out how Mister Frodo had convinced him to come on this camping trip. He avidly hated large bodies of water deeper than his ankles, and avoided them as a general rule, and he'd known they were to be staying by the crick for three days, yet Mister Frodo had still managed to get him here anyways. The young Gamgee sighed, unsure that he would ever figure it out.   
The older hobbit in question was now building a small flame. Bilbo had taken time to teach his young cousin how, in case it was someday needed, and Frodo was rather proud that he could do it alone.   
Pippin was trying to pull his small, still sleepy, self as close to the meager flame as possible. To be certain, it wasn't an unusually cold morning, but it also wasn't as warm as his room in Tuckbraugh. The young hobbit yawned and pulled his blanket around himself. He slept surprisingly heavy for having slept on rocks and roots all night and he was now having some difficulty fully waking.   
Merry, alone of the hobbits, was making full use of the creek. He had stripped himself down to his under clothes, so that his chest was bare except for a white tooth hanging on a strand of old leather, and was now splashing around in the cold water. As he dove under the surface, sending water out in all directions, Frodo laughed and Sam muttered something about unnatural.  
Pippin watched as Merry's auburn curls appeared, followed by a head and shoulders as his older cousin stood up in the chest deep water. An evil grin spread over the Brandybuck's face.  
"Hey Frodo! Catch!" Merry's arm rose out of the water, and something silvery flew through the air. A bright shiny fish landed on the top of Frodo's head, and began flopping among the chestnut curls. Frodo let out a yelp and jumped back, the fish falling to the ground, and Sam jumped up to try and kill it. Pippin fell over laughing, as Merry dove under water again to avoid his cousin's wrath for a moment.  
"Meriadoc Brandybuck, when I get my hands on you, you will not be smiling anymore!" Frodo bellowed over the silent creek, though all present knew it was a hollow threat. When Merry appeared again a few minutes later, down stream several feet and gasping for oxygen, Frodo was once again smiling.  
"Well Merry, I did not think you could do it." He said good-naturedly as Merry waded back toward them and climbed dripping and resembling a half drowned dog, onto the muddy bank. Merry shook his head, sending silver water droplets everywhere, and flopped on his back on the bank before replying.  
"I told ya' I'd get you a fish Frodo, and I meant it." The hobbit lad replied, picking up a piece of grass and sticking its end in the mouth. Frodo couldn't help but chuckle at this. Bilbo had once told him that people who chewed grass as children were better pipe smokers, and if that were true than Merry would make a very fine smoker someday indeed.   
"Forgive me forever doubting you, cousin." Frodo said sincerely before turning to help Sam cook the unfortunate fish.  
Merry stared up at the ever-lightening sky, until hazel eyes and brown black curls filled his vision. Merry seemed unfazed about his cousin's face suddenly appearing only an inch or so from his own.   
"G'morning Pip!" He smiled, "you were asleep still when I got up. Did you sleep well?"   
"Yep!" The young hobbit smiled enthusiastically and Merry closed his eyes, yawning slightly.  
"That's good." He replied thickly. Merry paid dearly for his moment of lapse guard. Pippin quickly straddled his cousin's stomach and sat down with a whumf. Merry let out an oof, and his eyes shot open.   
Pippin obviously was ignoring or did not see the glare he received from his older cousin, and he reached down to grab the tooth hanging on Merry's bare chest.   
"What's this?" The inquisitive child asked, and Merry pushed himself up on his elbows.  
"That," he explained, "is the tooth of a white wolf my Grandfather Roary killed during the Fell Winter. He used to always wear it on this leather, but he gave it to me on his last birthday. I always wear it, just usually under my clothes."  
"Why?" The child asked eagerly Merry gave him a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.  
"I won't want to add another reason, for people to think Brandybuck's are weird, Pip." Pippin sat there silently thoughtful for a moment.  
"Why do they think you're strange, Merry?" The young hobbit asked innocently, playing with the tooth. Merry was silent for a while, carefully weighing his reply.   
"Because...well lots of reasons, Pip. Buckland isn't really part of the Shire for one. They think of us as outsiders because we don't live in the Shire, technically speaking. For another reason, since we live so close to the Brandywine, some of us know how to swim. And some hobbits think that's 'unnatural'." Merry leaned his head back to grin at Sam, who at the moment, looked dangerously close to scowling.   
"Why don't 'cha all move into the Shire then?" Pippin asked, as serious as any of the three others had ever seen him.  
"Because, Pippin, we're," Merry thought for a moment, trying to come up with a suitable word to explain how Shire-folk saw Bucklanders, and failing. So, he settled for the closest thing he could think of. "Because we're different. No matter where we live, we're different from you Shire-folk. And people don't like what's different from them."  
"But," Pippin cried, struggling to understand, "I'm different from my sisters and they still love me!"  
"I'm glad for it, Pip." Merry said with a smile that was almost a scowl, meaning he was glad that the little lad was different from his older siblings.   
He could not forget his visits to Tuckbraugh. Because he was such close kin, Shire custom would not allow the Tooks to outright refuse him, but he was never exactly *welcome* in the great Smials.  
Sure, he could go there whenever he liked, but the atmosphere was chill and they always seemed to only show him the barest bit of hospitality. His room was always the smallest, the coldest, and the sheets the barest. He always got the smallest portions at meals, and they never asked if he wanted more.  
Paladin was the worst, something Merry could not understand in the least. His mother was Paladin's sister, and he'd always been told he looked a lot like his mother. So if he looked like his sister, why did he hate him so?  
"Why do hobbits hate what's different from them?" Pippin asked, leaning his sharp elbows into Merry's chest.  
"Why is the sky blue? Why do stars appear at night? Why do girls giggle? I don't know the answers to any of those questions, really for sure. As you get older you'll hear lots of answers, and other untrue things." Silence reigned while Pippin tried to absorb this, and it was Merry who spoke again. "Do you trust me?" Pippin looked up, meeting Merry's eyes for the first time.  
"What?"  
"Do you trust me, Pippin?"  
"Of course I do!" The child replied instantly and sincerely. Merry reached up one bare arm, and hugged Pippin's small frame tighter to his chest.  
"Then never believe. No matter what evidence they show you, reasons they give, or how convincing they sound, never believe them."   
Such was the earnest pleading in Merry's voice, that Pippin was speaking before he even comprehended what his cousin had said.  
"I won't Merry! I promise I won't!"  
  
Frodo smiled as he slowly turned the fish over the fire. Merry had handled that well, not going to deep for a child's comprehension. Yes, Merry and had done well, and for now Pippin would be satisfied.  
"Breakfast is ready, lads! Come eat it before Sam and I finish it off!"  
  
End A/N: *stops drooling over bare chested Merry to grin to her readers* Hello! Here are notes to all you wonderful people.  
  
Just a Person: Yes I continued it, and there is more to come after this ^_^.   
  
Whitney: Here's more. And there will be even MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE!  
StarDust: Trust me, they're going to learn eventually. If not in this story, in the end of RotK.  
  
Melanie: Another Merry fan! *cheers* I adore Merry; I think he's the greatest. And I'm absolutely flattered you think this is one of the best.   
  
Jenny: Well I try to be as original as possible. Though my friend Halo helps ^_^.  
  
Kayrie: I'm flattered, really and truly. It's taken a very long time for me to learn some of the rules, and if you know a good one for remembering whether it's then or than that goes in certain places please share.  
  
Halo: *gives her a Legolas plushie* that ought to' help calm you down ^_^.   
  
Midnight Dove: Believe me, I'm going. Right now.  
  
*Resumes drooling over Merry* 


	3. Defending Your Honor

A/N: Thank you all for the fabulous reviews. They mean very much to me. This chapter is really for.I don't know what yet.  
  
Rusta Iira By: PTB  
  
Chapter 3: Defending Your Honor  
  
"Oi, if this hill goes much higher we're all gonna' fall down and have to start over again!" Merry panted, shifting the weight of his pack, and Frodo had to agree with him. Their camping spot had been easy enough to get down to, but it was a lot harder to get back to Bag End. Pippin was struggling along between Frodo and Sam, both reaching down to help the young hobbit every so often when he would stumble. "Frodo I'm hot! Can't we rest a minute?" He asked, face red and chest aching. "Not on the hill Pippin, love. If we did I'd be harder to get going again. But as soon as we get to the top, we can rest." "The top can't come soon enough." Pippin groaned. Merry smiled at the nine year old, and got down on one knee. "Climb on up then, Pip." The hobbit lad let out an excited squeal, and quickly climbed up so that his knees were over his cousin's shoulders and he was hanging onto his head. Frodo shot Merry a questioning look, but he just nodded his head. Sam shrugged to Frodo, and they started up again with Merry lagging further behind with the added weight of Pippin and his pack. It was another fifteen minutes before the four had managed to get to the top, and were very surprised to find someone there waiting for them. "Da'!" Pippin gasped, very confused. He was supposed to be staying another week at Bag End, what was his dad doing there? Paladin Took looked none to pleased as he watched them all stop, and his eyes narrowed almost to slits as he saw his son perched on Merry's shoulders. "I heard some hobbit lads were swimming down here." He said, voice void of any emotion. "Just one sir." Merry said quietly to his feet, face blushing red. Paladin eyed him with a look that made it clear that Merry was already marked for something. "You weren't teaching my son, where you?" "No sir," Merry looked up from his feet, his eyes suddenly steeled, "I would not do so without your permission and the supervision of an adult." Paladin snorted. "Don't see why, you go against your parents wishes often enough." Merry's face flushed red again, and he hung his head down. He would not let his Uncle see how close those words brought him to tears. Frodo and Sam looked at each other, forgotten for the moment. "What else is the matter Da'?" Pippin asked, unaware of the quivering muscles beneath him. Paladin lifted his eyes off Merry to look at his son again. "I heard you two were involved in a fight in Hobbiton the other day." Pippin looked at his father in confusion. "We haven't been into Hobbit for almost a week, Da'. And the last fight would have been almost a month ago." Paladin looked doubtful. "Do not lie to me, Peregrin." Merry winced as Pippin stiffened, suddenly frightened. The only time he was called Peregrin was when he was in trouble. Merry looked up, gulping. "It was my fault Uncle Paladin." He gulped, as Pippin looked at him curiously, and Frodo shook his head. Taking the blame for something was one thing, but lying to take the blame was something else entirely. All four hobbit lads knew Merry had not been where it was claimed he was.or did they? "Uncle Bilbo sent me on an errand, when the others were out helping Gaffer Gamgee with the garden. I ran into a Boldger boy, and he started calling me names. So I hit him, and." "MERIADOC BRANDYBUCK!" Paladin roared, and the boy winced. "You just wait until I tell your father! That is not the way for the heir of Buckland," neither Merry nor Frodo missed the slight sneer he said this sentence with, "to act! You." Paladin suddenly smiled, a look of malice on his face, "you're setting a very poor example for your cousin. Until further notice, you are not allowed to see Peregrin again!" All four hobbit boys head's snapped up, the two youngest having identical expressions of shock on their face. "No!" Merry yelled in horror, eye wide with a sudden expression of fright. "Uncle Paladin, you wouldn't.you can't." "And why can't I?" Paladin sneered, eyes shining with masked delight. "He is my son, and heir, and I shall be the one to decide who he can and cannot associate with! Come, Pippin." Pippin's hazel eyes had been welling with tears, which now spilled out of his eyes. "No! No Da', please! I'll be good, honest I will! It's not Merry's fault!" Paladin narrowed his eyes at his son. "Now, Peregrin!" "No!" Pippin sobbed, burying his face in Merry's curls. Paladin was about to take a step forward, but Merry dropped to his knees. Reaching his arms up, he caught Pippin under the shoulders and lifted him down. "You better do what he says," Merry said softly, not meeting Pippin's teary gaze, "I don't want you getting in trouble because of me." "But Merry.it's not fair! I'm never gonna' see you again!" Merry looked up, and had to fight his own tears when he met Pippin's gaze. "Sure you will Pippers. We'll see each other again someday. I promise." Pippin nodded tearfully, and Paladin scooped him up in his arms. "We'll see if you can keep that promise Meriadoc." Paladin whispered, so that only Merry could hear. Merry's eyes welled with tears, but he squared his shoulders, stood up, and looked at Paladin with as much courage and defiance as he could muster. He stayed in that same ridged pose until the pair where out of sight, before he fell to his knees again in a flood of tears. Frodo and Sam ran over to him then, and Frodo laid a hand on Merry's back. "I'll never see him again!" Merry sobbed, clutching his aching chest. "Never again." "Why did you say that Merry, you didn't fight anyone!" Merry shook his head. "I did Frodo, I wasn't lying. The kid was making fun of my Papa, and then he spit on me. So I stood up for myself this time, I gave that kid a licking he won't soon forget. Lucky it wasn't in the middle of town, or it would have been ten to one odds." Frodo hugged Merry close as he sobbed heavily, looking like he was going to be sick. Sam sat awkwardly on the obviously distressed hobbit's other side. Merry looked fiercely in the direction his uncle and small cousin had gone. "It's all because of my name, Frodo!" The seventeen year old stated, voice more firm and even than before, though waterfalls still leaked from his eyes. "If I wasn't a Brandybuck." "I know," Frodo soothed, even though he knew he didn't. How he longed to make Merry understand that there was more to this world then the hate he was shown, but knew he couldn't. He would have to figure it out himself. "Lets go back to Bag End, Merry one." Merry just nodded and, with the help of Frodo and Sam, stumbled back toward the welcoming, comforting, arms of his older cousin.  
  
End A/N: Dun dun dun, the plot thickens! ^_^!  
  
BluJay: I'm glad you liked it. And I'm updating as fast as I possibly can.  
  
Lady Myself: I'm sorry you're struggling to read it, but I'm glad you're making the effort and taking time to review. It is greatly appreciated!  
  
Nutmae: Thank you very much. That's what I view fan fiction as. A way to add depth to characters.  
  
Eriks-lil-rocker: I loved that part in Two Towers also. It was a superb Merry Moment, and Dominic did so well! And there is plenty more Merry to come, don't you worry!  
  
katakanadian: Thanks for the English lesson, actually. I have that problem as a general rule. As for the punctuation I actually do indent, but due to the format of FF.Net it doesn't show up.  
  
Halo: Done more, where's my plushie? ;)  
  
Lora: Here is your update ^_^  
  
Jenny: If you haven't read the books, you should. They're excellent. And I'm glad you liked part 2. How was this part?  
  
StarDust: I am very fond of my muse. I'm not sure where it comes from or what it is, but it does its job well.  
  
Whitney: I'm very glad I've kept your interest! I hope this did the same this time!  
  
Lady Hummingbird: I like the new name. I hope this part did justice. I don't really like it, but I had to get this plot launched somehow. And I will update as regularly as possible.  
  
MEsTuPgCsCrEaMeR: Maybe I didn't make it clear, but the other hobbits really were jealous of Merry's ability, so don't worry ^_^.  
  
Amrunofthesummercountry: I'm glad you like my story that much! And the whole point of the story was to show how horrible prejudice really is. I'm very glad you picked up on that. And it's okay to be weird, I know I am. 


	4. Rain may fall and wind may blow

A/N: *handing out Merry plushies to all her reviewers* I think, now that I have some kind of a plot, that the chapters will start picking up in pace. So, here goes! And I must apologize for the format of chapter 3. It's just, well, FF.Net did it.  
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 4: Rain may fall, and wind may blow  
  
Three hobbits came splashing in the door of Bag End with a gust of wind, and it took all three of them to shut the door behind them. They were talking to each other when Bilbo hurried in the hall to see what had happened.  
"That came up quick!" Sam said, leaning against the green door panting.  
"Good thing we didn't stay another day, and were on our way home when it came up." Frodo agreed, looking like he was enjoying the summer storm. Merry looked completely miserable.  
"Even if we'd planned another day, I don't think we would be staying." He said miserably, and Frodo and Sam gave him sympathetic looks.   
"Lads your soaked!" Bilbo gasped, coming into the entryway. All three looked at the puddle they'd created in the entry way sheepishly. "Where's Pippin?"  
"His dad came and got him." Frodo said, not looking up, and Merry turned his face away so that Bilbo would not see him cry. Bilbo, however, was not so easily deceived.  
"What happened, lads? Tell old cousin Bilbo all about it." Merry's bottom lip began to tremble, and soon a dry sob escaped his throat. Frodo became so involved in comforting the distraught teen that the lot fell to Sam to try and explain to Bilbo what had happened.   
"Well, Mister Bilbo sir, it's like this. Mister Paladin met us as we were back. Said he'd heard Mister Merry and young Mister Pippin had been fighting, you understand. Mister Merry said he had, and Mister, that is Thain, Paladin said Mister Merry was no longer allowed to see little Mister Pippin, if you follow me." Bilbo looked thunderstruck.  
"Just like that? He can't do that!"  
"He did," Merry said shakily, brushing of Frodo's comforting hug with a shrug of his shoulders. "And he threatened to tell my Papa, but that won't happen. I've never seen him and my papa speak." Bilbo, however, could see past the façade to the deepness of hurt the young hobbit was feeling. He took the small boy into his arms, and held him tightly.   
"There, there Merry-lad. It's alright, it's alright." Merry sobbed dryly, shaking as his body tried to find real tears to cry.  
"It's not alright Bilbo, and will never be! Not until I get Pippin back. He's my best friend Bilbo, I can't live without him!" Frodo looked frightened at this revelation, and dropped down by the embracing hobbits.  
"Now, come on now Merry! Don't talk like that! You'll see Pippin again, and everything will be alright." Sam could only stand by the door, feeling awkward. This really wasn't his place, watching gentle hobbits like Mister Merry cry like he was. But...he could almost understand what it was like to lose something that precious.  
"I know how you feel, Mister Merry." He whispered quietly to his feet. Bilbo and Frodo looked up at him, curious, even if Merry didn't. Sam blushed; suddenly shy at being the center of attention, so Bilbo prompted him.  
"Why is that, Samwise?" Sam's face went an even darker red, and they could scarcely hear him when he spoke next.  
"My mum." Merry looked up at him, startled, and so did Frodo. Bilbo just gave him a sympathetic look, knowing exactly what he was talking about.  
"Oh Sam..." Frodo sighed, looking like he wanted to hug the younger hobbit but knowing it would only make the young boy feel awkward.   
"She died," Sam continued, for Merry mostly, "when I was small. Not long after my sister Marigold was born." Merry gave him a look of sympathy, and he stood up shakily out of Bilbo's grasp.  
"Thank you Sam." He whispered, and the two looked at each other with new understanding for a moment, before Merry turned to Bilbo and Frodo.  
"I will get Pippin back," he resolved, "no matter what. I won't lose him!"  
  
  
"Da'? What's going on?" Pippin asked, sitting by the fire in Tuckbraugh, drying off as best he could. They'd been almost home on the pony when the storm came up. "Why can't I see Merry Da'?" Paladin sighed, and got down on his knees so that he was eye level on his little son sitting on his stool.  
"It's very complicated Pippin. I don't know that you'd understand yet."  
"I'm big now." The nine-year-old said, pulling up to his full height, which didn't amount to much. "I'd understand." Paladin sighed, rubbing his head with one hand, before drawing Pippin into his lap.  
"It's like this, little one. The Brandybucks are...well they're not the same as us."  
"That's what Merry said!" Pippin exclaimed, "Merry said that they were different from us 'cause they live in Buckland and they can swim!"   
"Well, there's more to it then that Pippin." Paladin tried to grab and his sliding thoughts and stick them into words that a nine-year-old child could understand. "They live near the old forest. They wander in there sometimes..."  
"Why's that wrong Da'? Frodo and I go into the forest all the time!"  
"Yes, well," Paladin now tried to explain, "that's not the old Forest Pippin. The old forest is evil, and puts evil into those who enter. The trees move and whisper." Pippin's eyes widened.  
"Do they really, Da'?"  
"Yes Pippin, they really do. And Brandybucks, they do things different from us..."  
"How?" Pippin asked, hazel eyes now wide.   
"Well, they always kill more animals then they need, and their ponies are always under kept. They forget about their children, because they all drink too much, and the children all fight with each other. Brandybucks like to wreck things, and often leave a good Smials or hobbit hole in shambles. And they take good, well bred, shire girls for their own without asking." Paladin's eyes darkened as he thought of this, and unconsciously held Pippin close.  
"You mean they kidnap them?" Pippin's mouth was hanging open in the way that meant he was horrified by something, and Paladin nodded.  
"Aye, they do."   
"How do you know that, Da'?" The young Took demanded. He had to know, because he didn't want to believe that Merry would be related to anyone that would do that.  
"Because it happened to me, Pip. I went up to North Farthing for a few weeks, on some business for my father, and when I came back my little sister was gone and married to a Brandybuck. They'd taken her and married her without asking me, her older brother, and there wasn't even a courtship."  
"Aunt Esmie?" Pippin gasped, staring in shock. He wasn't serious, was he?  
"Yes Pippin, your Aunt Esmerelda was taken like that. That's why your sisters have never been allowed in Buckland, because I don't want the same thing to happen to them." The small hobbit's eyes widened. What would it be like, without one of his older sisters around? Without Pearl to mend his button? Without Pervincia to make his boo boo's better? Or without Pimpernel to tell him stories at night? But Merry wouldn't...he'd never...  
"I didn't want your sisters to have to live in that miserable place like my sister Pip. That's why I did what I did today. To protect you, because I love you." Paladin kissed his son's forehead, and set him back on his stool. He wrapped a warm towel around him and left.   
Pippin sat in front of the fire; eyes glazed as he looked at it but didn't see. He felt all tangled up inside, like a ball of yarn Pearl's cat had chased all over. He loved his Da'! After all, he was grown up and knew an awful lot. And he was his Da', so he had to respect him too, and he was almost always right.  
But what about Merry? Merry played with him, and let him hang out with him, even if he was eight years older. Merry was always so nice! He wouldn't do stuff like his Da' said Brandybucks did, would he? He wouldn't take his sisters away, or do anything like that, would he? Tears welled up in his eyes, and his small chest heaved in a dry sob. He didn't know what to think anymore! Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Merry's voice came through the thick fog.  
"Do you trust me Pip? Then don't believe."  
  
End A/N: Okay so this chapter didn't pick up pace, but you're getting the idea of the plot. Next chapter will have more, I think. 


	5. Elen sila lumenn omentilmo

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my Golden, because he gave me the idea! This chapter does have a bit of action to it, much to every ones delight I'm sure. And since it's new years eve, and I have nothing else to do, this story is getting updated a lot today, lol.  
  
Rusta Iira   
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 5: Elen sila lumenn omentilmo  
  
The grass was wet and springy under bare feet, and the air stilled smelled of rain. The storm had stopped as quickly as it had started, but it could be back at any time. The young hobbit was dressed all in black, and he was creeping as quietly as he could. Reaching up, the auburn haired child tapped lightly on the window.  
"Psst, Pippin! Pippin!" A curly dark head peeked out the window, one little hand rubbing hazel eyes.  
"Wha? What's going on?"   
"Pippin, down here!"   
"Merry?!" Pippin squeaked, staring down at the upturned face. "Merry what are you doing here! You're gonna' get in trouble!" Pippin's eyes were wide with anxiety, and he peered over his shoulder to make sure that no one was coming. "You have to go. I don't want you getting in trouble!"   
"I had to see you, Pip." Merry explained, standing up to full height so that he was now face to face with his cousin in the low window. "I had to explain." Pippin was shaking his head.  
"Merry, you can't. My Da' he'll catch you..." Pippin glanced over his shoulder again, obviously afraid of something. Merry would have none of it.   
"Pippin, please, just listen to me. You've got to understand me Pip. It's important that you do!" With extreme hesitance, the child nodded his assent for Merry to continue.  
"Okay Merry, but hurry. I don't want Da' to catch you." Merry smiled with relief.  
"Do you still trust me Pip? After anything he might have said?" Merry's heart sank as Pippin hesitated, instead of answering instantly like he'd done the day before.   
"I...I don't know anymore Merry! It's all so jumbled. Da' said you did some horrible things, and you said you were different. And...I don't know anymore." Merry reached up a hand, brushing the back of his hand over one smooth cheek to get rid of one wayward tear.  
"There's a lot that people in the Shire don't understand about us." Merry whispered, more to himself than Pippin, "they don't know what they think they know. And please, Pippin, you have to believe me, anything he tells you most likely isn't true."  
"But my Da' doesn't lie!" Pippin cried out in fury, and Merry winced.  
"I didn't say he was lying to yuh, Pip."  
"Yes you did! You just said it!"   
"No. Pippin, listen to me. He doesn't know what he thinks he knows. People assume a lot of stuff about Brandybucks Pip, but most of it's not true."   
"But I don't understand Merry. Why would everyone hate Brandybucks without reason?"   
"I don't know Pip. I don't know a lot of things."  
"But my Da' knows everything!" The nine year old stated, "So...so maybe you're wrong Merry. Maybe, you're different from most Brandybucks."  
"Pippin," Merry said, trying desperately to keep the hurt of this accusation out of his voice, "I'm going to be in charge of the Brandybucks someday Pippers. So, I'd have to understand my own people wouldn't I?"  
"Well then," the little hobbit said with a voice that said he was closer to tears then he would admit, "then maybe my da' is right about you. You don't know as much as I thought you did Merry, and my Da' knows everything. So, maybe he is right." A lump formed in Merry's throat, and he suddenly found it very difficult to breath.  
"Come on Pip, you've been to Brandyhall a few times. You know we're not that different from you..."  
"But I don't, Merry. Because you are different! You all live in the same house, and it's usually not clean. And you go into that forest sometimes Merry, I've seen you, and Da' said it's evil. And Da' said your Da' kidnapped Aunt Esmie and married her without telling him!"  
"What? Pippin that's not..."  
"I'm sorry Merry, I've got to go."   
"No! Pippin! Pippin!" But the curly little head withdrew inside the window, shutting the pane behind him.   
Struggling with the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him, Merry turned to go...and ran right into an older hobbit and fell over on his back.   
"Meriadoc Brandybuck! I do believe I told you, that you were not allowed to see Pippin." Merry glared into the darkness, until he caught sight of the speaker. He closed his eyes in sudden gloom. None other than his Uncle Paladin had caught him.  
"You did sir."   
"And I see that still does not stop you." Suppressed anger welled up inside him, and he could feel himself beginning to tremble.  
"No sir," he said, voice crisp with rage, "because I had to clear things up."  
"Lie to him, you mean." Paladin sneered. "You Brandybucks are all alike. Lairs and thieves, taking things that are not yours, and breaking that which you cannot have. You have no concern for civilized hobbits. A bunch of savages you lot are. Not even decent enough to be considered hobbits! You know what I say to that?" The older hobbit spit at the seventeen year olds feet, and grinned at him through the darkness. "That's what I say to that."   
Eyes glinting with hatred, Merry lifted his head up, threw his shoulders back, and looked the older hobbit with full defiance. This man had already taken away his Pippin, turned him against him, what more could he do? Nothing else would ever hurt as deeply as Pippin saying that his father was right.  
"And you know what I have to say too that, Uncle Paladin?" His voice was cool as a knife in a midwinter night, and the older hobbit unconsciously recoiled slightly. "I say that if you knew half as much as you think you do, you'd be wiser than Gandalf himself. But you know nothing." Lighting flashed behind him, making his defiant features clear. "You Tooks brag about being so wise, yet you do not see what is right in front of your face! If watching young hobbits being beaten by lads much stronger than they are, and not so much as batting an eyelash, is considered civilized then I don't want to be! Never has a Brandybuck treated another such, and one never will. So you can keep your 'civilized ways' if you wish, but I won't! Not now, or ever!" The blow came so fast and out of the dark that Merry wasn't sure what had hit him until after he got back to Bag End. All he knew was that one minute he was standing up, and the next he was down on his face in the dirt, dazed and clutching the back of his head.  
"Stay away from my family," Paladin Took growled, "and never step foot on my land again, or so help me Brandyhall will no longer have an heir." He gave the teenager a kick in the side, for good measure, and walked into the Smail, slamming the door with a crash. Merry half dragged himself to Bag End, dazed, hurt, and confused, but most of all feeling as if his heart had been torn out.  
He left behind a small hobbit boy, sitting on his bed and crying his own heart out.   
"Merry, I'm sorry," The boy repeated until finally, he had cried himself to sleep.  
  
  
  
"He what!" Saradoc Brandybuck roared, pacing the area in Bag End's study in front of his son. Merry seemed to be inspecting his curly haired feet, as he wasn't watching his dad pace.  
"He hit me with a broom stick." Merry repeated, almost whispering. He'd gotten back to Bag End, only to find his parents waiting for him. Obviously Bilbo had sent an urgent message to them, via the post, saying that Merry was in need of their comfort and they had left immediately.  
Demanding to know where he'd been, Merry was forced to repeat the tale several times: once to Bilbo and his mother, once to Frodo, and finally (and most regretfully) to his father.  
"Paladin's got some nerve! You just don't go around hitting children, especially when you're the one in the wrong!" Under normal circumstances, Merry would have resented being called a child but he knew this was neither the time nor the place to correct his father.   
"Now Saradoc, do be reasonable. You know my brother he's...well he's very...he reacts before it's necessary to do so."   
"Know him? Esmerelda I've never even met the man! He won't come see us in Brandyhall, and we've been all but banished from Tuckbraugh."  
"I've been banished." Merry said miserably, and his mother put her arms around him. The only people he'd told what Pippin had said were his mother and Frodo. He knew that Bilbo would go off trying to make things better, but only making things worse, and his father would say that it was all for the better, even if Merry didn't know why then.  
"This only means one thing Bilbo!" Saradoc said, drawing himself up his full three feet seven and a half inch stature. "Buckland must declare war on Tuckbraugh, if not the whole Shire." Everyone stared at the Buckland authority in shock, and Merry felt his stomach clench.  
"Now Saradoc, be reasonable!" Bilbo sputtered, "You can't just go off declaring war over a misunderstanding like this! You're not even Thain yet, officially, because your father is still alive!"  
"But I am Thain, now that my father can no longer handle everything. And it's not the misunderstanding Bilbo; it's the principal of the thing! The Shire must learn to respect Brandybuck's, even if it must be the hard way! Esmerelda, Meriadoc, come! We've got a long way to go, and preparations to make!" With that Saradoc swept out the door, followed by a very bewildered looking wife and son, and the door of Bag End slammed behind them.  
The owner and soon to be heir of Bag End shared looks of ominous shock, and Bilbo sank into his favorite chair beside Frodo.  
"Blundering Boliwags, what have we got ourselves into this time, Frodo-lad?"   
  
  
  
End A/N: The plot gets even deeper ^_^. Hope this keeps you guys happy. And thanks ever so much for the fabulous reviews. I've read them all a million times, at least! I think that this is the last update for today, but I won't leave you in suspense for to long ^_^.  
-PTB   
  
PS: The title is in elvish. You can find the translation in the Fellowship of the Ring. Anyone that can translate it gets a chibi pippin plushie. If you can't, you will find out in the Authors Note of next chapter. 


	6. War is Brewing

A/N: *squealing with delight* I have over forty reviews! This is my most successful story (in the review sense) ever! Oh, and the elvish is "A star shines on the hour of our meeting" or something similar to that. I can't find it right now to quote exactly *sweatdrops*  
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter Six: Wars brewing  
  
The poor teddy bear flew across the room, hitting the wall so hard one of it's button eyes came off, and fell to the floor with a dull thump. A hand curled around the defenseless bear's chest. Merry looked at the remaining button eyes, his own eyes ablaze.  
"This is my fault!" He cried to it, giving it a little shake. "I knew better than to go to the Smials! I knew it would only make things worse. I'm so stupid!" The poor bear flew again, this time hitting the small looking glass on the wall. Both fell to the ground with a crash, but such was the noise out the hobbit's door that no one heard it. Grim faced, the young hobbit walked over the broken glass.  
Merry looked down at the shattered glass, his face now expressionless. Fragments of himself showed back at him, all with dead green eyes and expressionless faces.  
"A broken reflection. Splintered pieces of the same whole." He murmured, bending down and picking up one of the pieces. As he picked up the largest piece, it sliced his hand. He watched numbly, the pain only a vague sensation in the back of his head, as dark red blood dripped onto his hands. Merry watched it silently for a moment, before putting the glass down and walking out the door. Little red spots splashed onto the wood floor behind him. He was walking to the nearest bathroom, which was on the other side of his parents room, when he heard yelling behind it.  
"Saradoc this is madness! No one in the Shire has killed another intentionally in almost a hundred years, if not longer!"  
"They've got to know Esmerelda, they've got to understand! When it is no longer safe for our children to travel to the other side of the Brandywine, enough is enough! I will not tolerate our son being beaten and spit upon like some beggar! There is more pride in the name Brandybuck than that!"  
"Just because you have the power to start a war, Saradoc Brandybuck, does not mean that you have too! Give me a chance to talk to my brother, maybe I can sort this out."  
"And give him warning of our plan? No. Now is the time to act!"   
"I'm going to try and talk some sense into my brother Saradoc, whether you like it or not! You have until I return to change your mind!" With that, the Mistress of Brandyhall left the room with as much air and dignity as she could muster, her cloak thrown over her shoulders, and was flying to the stables. Saradoc stepped to his doorway, but stopped there. Why was he bothering? He knew it would not work, and he had preparations to make. With the whipping of his cape, Saradoc turned back to his room. From the shadows of the hall Merry looked at his hand, and whispered.  
"One more piece."  
  
"Aunt Esmie!" Pearl cried in shock, as she opened the door several hours after Esmerelda had left Brandyhall. The gentle hobbit woman stepped inside, and swept off her riding hood.  
"Hello, dear, is your Da' home?" She asked, reverting back to her Tuckbraugh accent instead of the Buckland one she had acquired. "I need to speak with him, on a matter of some urgency."  
"Yes, he's in his study." Pearl lead her swiftly down one of the many corridors. "Da', Aunt Esmie's here!" Paladin Took threw the door open wide, and firelight flooded the time hallway.  
"Esmie!" Paladin cried, dignity forgotten for a moment, and drew his sister into a tight hug. Esmerelda smiled at him, and held the embrace for a moment before pulling away and locking eyes with her brother.  
"I wish this were a casual visit, Pal, but I fear it is a matter that demands your immediate attention." Paladin nodded, and motioned for his oldest daughter to leave.  
"Thank you for wasting no time Pearl. You may go now." The young hobbit nodded and scurried off, as Paladin shut the door behind his sister.   
"What brings you here in such haste, sister?" Drawing a breath to steady herself, Esmerelda quickly launched into her tale; starting with Merry coming home, up until when they left Bag End.  
"And Saradoc is set in is resolution to make war on you, Pal!" She cried in dismay, throwing her arms up in a sign of defeat. "But you'll set him right won't you? You'll explain the whole thing to him..." Paladin's face lit up with malice, and he laid his hand on her shoulder.  
"Thank you Esmie. I knew you would betray those wretched Brandybucks and return to the life of the Tooks in the end." Esmerelda was taken aback.  
"Betray the Brandybucks? Paladin I'm not trying to betray anyone! I'm trying to put some sense into both your heads!" But it appeared Paladin was not listening.  
"Now we have the information we need to attack first!"  
"Attack?!" Esmerelda with sudden anger, "Paladin, I did not tell you this so you could attack first! I gave you this information so that you could go talk to my husband and make him see reason!"   
"Talk to that lair and thief?"  
"Paladin that's my husband you're talking about!"  
"Not rightly, Esmie! He took your from me, stole you the moment I turned my back!"   
"Paladin, I told you this the first night and a hundred nights since then! Saradoc did not force me to marry him! We'd been dating in secret for a long time, and were married secretly because we knew that you and father would not approve!"  
"You had not mine nor father's permission. There for your marriage was not legal, or ligament, and that makes your son a bastard*!" Esmerelda' s fists clenched and her eyes were blazing with rage.  
"Don't you think you've done enough damage all ready? You leave my son out of this! And whether you think he is legal or not, he is still your nephew and I still love Merry and Saradoc more than anything in the world!" Paladin's eyes flashed.  
"You have been brainwashed, Esmie. And a think a few days in the Smials would do you good. I hereby decree that, until otherwise stated, you will not be returning to Brandyhall, Esmie, and you will not go anywhere without an army escort!"  
"You can't do that!" Esmerelda yelled in fury. "You can't keep me from my home Paladin!"  
"I'm not keeping you from your home, Esmie. I'm keeping you at home." With great strength, but as gently as he could, he dragged his little sister to a spare room, tossed her lightly in, and locked the door.  
"PALADIN! YOU'RE ONLY MAKING THINGS WORSE! PALADIN!"   
  
End A/N: Paladin isn't as evil as I'm writing him; he's just fiercely protective. So don't judge him to harshly.  
  
*= I'm not using this as a swear word, I'm using the literal meaning as I've read it in books about medieval England, meaning an illegitimate son. Or a child produced because of sleeping around. This is normal used when referring to the illegitimate son/daughter of someone of importance. 


	7. Counting Down

A/N: Sixty reviews! I have sixty reviews! *Throws confetti in the air* How I wish I could reply to you all individually, but I can't. So, I have to do the best I can with the story. Here is chapter seven! Oh yes, and I hope you all got the thing with the mirror. I was trying my hand at that double meaning stuff.  
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter Seven: Counting down  
  
"Where are we going, Mister Frodo?" Sam asked from the back of the small pony he was riding, or actually plodding along, on. He yawned loudly, but tried to stop it when Frodo turned to him. Of course all this really did was manage to make him have to yawn more. Frodo smiled at his companion, and held up a rolled up piece of parchment tied with a blue string.   
"Bilbo asked me to deliver this to the Smials, and I asked you to come along to keep me company. Bilbo said we were in no particular hurry."   
"Oh." Said Sam. "Well what's the note about?"  
"I'm not entirely sure." Frodo admitted. "I do know it's got something to do with the war of Uncle Saradoc's." Sam was silent for a bit, carefully trying to figure out what he wanted to say next. With a sigh, he decided that the only way to do it was to be blunt about it.  
"Do you think it'll really come to war, Mister Frodo? And if it does, what side will you choose?" Frodo's voice was somewhat exhausted and tired when he next spoke.   
"I don't know Sam. Brandybucks are famous for their tempers, quick to flare but just as easy to quell. I'm hoping that Uncle Saradoc was mostly bluffing. But if it does come to war, I think Bilbo and I will stay out of it."   
"That's a good idea Mister Frodo." Sam agreed. They continued in silence the last little bit to the Smials. When they got there, they were both surprised to see many hobbits running this way and that in what seemed to be a great hurry.   
"What's going on Mister Frodo?"  
"I don't know Sam. But I have a feeling it isn't good." Frodo trotted his pony over to where Paladin was standing on a rock in the middle of all the confusion, Sam about four pony steps behind him.   
"Paladin, sir," Frodo said, and the older Took turned and smiled at him.  
"Why, it's Frodo Baggins! Hello Master Baggins! Have you come to pledge your support to our side?"   
"Er..." Frodo wasn't sure what the correct answer was, as he wasn't sure what cause Paladin was talking about, and decided it best not to answer. "We bring you a message from Bilbo."   
"Ah! Yes, very wise of you Frodo." He took the parchment Frodo offered, then yelled over his shoulder, "Pippin!" The small hobbit ran forward from where he was sitting under a tree, watching all the activity.  
"Yes Da'?" He looked up at the ponies and let out an excited yell. "Frodo! Sam!"   
"Hello Pippin!" Frodo laughed, waving down to him.   
"Take our guests to the Smials, Pippin, and get them fed and watered." Pippin nodded eagerly.  
"You can tie your ponies in the stables!" When the ponies had been taken care of, and the two guests led to the kitchen, Pippin began talking excitedly.  
"It's been awfully long since I've seen you Frodo!" Frodo laughed good naturedly, and ruffled the young hobbit's hair.  
"It's only been five days Pip!"  
"Well it's seems awful long, so much has happened!" For once, Frodo didn't bother to insert the missing since into his cousin's sentence.  
"What's happened Pip?"  
"Aunt Esmie came over! And now we're going to war with the Brandybucks!" Sam couldn't tell whether the Took sounded more frightened or excited about this idea, but knew that neither was an emotion he would have expect to hear when said with those words. Not that he'd really expected to hear those words out of that particular Took, either.  
"War with the Brandybucks?" Frodo looked, and sounded, thunderstruck. "But Pippin you can't really be doing that!"  
"We are." He said, and Sam now understood the emotion to be fear. Though this was preferable to excitement, he still would have expected the young one to be in tears. After all, the lad's best friend was a Brandybuck! Wasn't he?  
"Let me talk to Esmie, Pippin." Frodo said, face paler than usual. Pippin walked over to get two cups and two plates. He didn't turn to them when he spoke, so they almost missed his whispered reply.  
"You can't."  
"Why not Pip?"  
"Da' said no one is supposed to talk to her, unless it's to tell her the food has been slipped under the door."  
"Slipped under the door! Peregrin Took I demand to know what's going on right now!" Pippin's bottom lipped quivered, and then the whole story burst forth.  
"Oh Frodo, I don't know what happened! One night Aunt Esmie came after I was in bed, and told Da' that the Brandybucks were going to come and hurt us! And...and then I asked if I could see her and Da' said no! He said not until she learned her lesson! And he said we weren't to let her out of the room or anything! Oh, Frodo, what's Merry going to do without his Mum? What if he gets hurt? Who'll make him better, Frodo?" Frodo studied Pippin carefully, Merry's pain filled voice recounting what Pippin had said to him filling the back of his mind.   
"So you don't think your Dad is right anymore Pippin?"  
"I don't know," the little hobbit sighed in defeat, and then hiccupped. "Sometimes it seems Da' is right, and sometimes Merry is."   
"Take me to Esmie, please Pippin. It's really important!" Sam didn't know how anyone could resist Frodo's pleading look, and it appeared Pippin couldn't.  
"Okay, follow me!" The small lad led them down several winding halls, until they stopped at a room, right next to Pippin's.  
"She's in there." He motioned to the door, and Frodo stepped forward. He then fell to his knees, and pressed his face under the crack.  
"Esmie! Esmie, can you hear me? It's me, Frodo?"  
"Frodo?" The voice that came back was not the voice of the strong hobbit woman both Sam and Frodo knew, but sounded feebler and like the owner had been crying really hard for a long time.   
"Yes Esmie, it's me. Pippin's told us everything." There was sound of movement in the room.  
"Paladin has locked me in here Frodo. He thinks it's going to keep me safe. He's only going to make things worse! And if I'm not back soon, Saradoc might begin to think that I betrayed him like Paladin does! And poor Merry! He was looking so pale when I left. I fear he's getting sick, and Saradoc can't take care of a sick child to save his life!" Pippin began to tremble and sniffle at this revelation, picturing Merry lying dead on his bed thinking that he hated him!  
"Is there anything I can do, Esmie?" Frodo begged. Someone had to think of something!  
"Yes...yes Frodo I think you can." Something slid under the door, hitting Frodo in the face.  
"Take this note to Saradoc, it'll explain everything to him. Maybe he'll be able to reason with Paladin, now that he's calmed down enough."  
"How do you know he's calmed down, Miss Esmerelda?" Sam wanted to know.  
"Oh, he's a Brandybuck through and through." Sam looked confused, but decided to ask no further. Frodo picked up the note and smiled at him.  
"I'll explain it on the way Sam." He then turned back to the door. "We'll bring back any reply we get Esmie."  
"Make haste Frodo! And be careful!" Frodo nodded, though Esmerelda couldn't see him, and pushed himself to his feet.  
"Thank your father for his hospitality for us, Pip. And don't say a word of this to anyone." Pippin nodded.  
"I promise Frodo, I won't!" Frodo gave him a small smile, and found his way back to the kitchen. He then climbed onto his horse, with Sam not far behind.  
"Come on, Kili," Frodo whispered to Bilbo's pony, "to Buckland we go, with as much speed as you can." The pony whinnied and took off with Fili, the pony Sam was on, following.   
  
  
End A/N: Anyone who can tell me where I got the names Fili and Kili from gets...*pulls out a Merry plushie* one of these! OH! And the next chapter will have more Saradoc, and more of poor Merry, and even more Bilbo. But I don't think there will be too much more action until the chapter after that! 


	8. Heal my heart

A/N: Well all, school has started again so updates are going to be limited to probably one a week :(! Sorry. I do, however, PROMISE to finish this story.  
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 8: Heal my heart  
  
"Saradoc!" Merry looked up from his place on the couch, as his father came running past to the source of the yell.   
"Frodo? Come in boy, come in! No use standing out there!" Merry got to his feet and ran over, finding Sam and Frodo standing in the doorway. "Well come on, sit down, have something to eat."  
"We can't." Frodo said firmly, and stuck his hand out. "This is an urgent letter from Esmerlda." Merry lost all dignity at this, and zoomed out from his hiding spot in that shadows.  
"Mammy? You saw her Frodo? Is she all right? Is she hurt? How's Pip? What's going on? Why didn't she come home?" Saradoc took the note from Frodo with a face that showed no emotion, and Frodo turned to Merry while he read it, unsure of how to answer. So, he concluded the best course of action was to get some of his own questions answered.  
"Merry how are you?"  
"...Fine..." But both Sam and Frodo could see that the boy was not fine. His normally tan skin seemed to be void of all color, his eyes were somewhat glassy, and his small hand was bandaged.   
"Merry please don't..." Frodo didn't get to finish his request, as Saradoc began to read out loud, in a voice shaking with anger.  
"Saradoc, please understand that I did not leave you and Merry alone intentionally at this time. Paladin has finally done what he's threatened to do in all the letters he's sent me since we were married and 'brought me back to where I belong'. I can't get out Saradoc; I'm stuck in one of the Smials. I'm sure one of my nieces or Pippin would let me out if they could, but Paladin wears the key around his neck. You cannot attack them! It will be disastrous if you do! You have to come and reason with Paladin, before he attacks you first! Think of Pearl, Pervincia, and Pimpernel. Think of little Pippin, and the other children! And if nothing else, Saradoc, think of your son! Please, just reason with Paladin! Don't forget, I love you still, Esmerelda Brandybuck." Merry looked at his father wide eyed as he tore the note into little pieces and threw them to the ground.  
"If Paladin Took thinks he can get away with kidnapping then he has another thing coming! I was hoping this war would scare him into admitting he was wrong, but it appears I have no choice now then to wipe out the whole clan!" Frodo and Sam exchanged fearful glances.  
"You can tell ol' Paladin to meet us at the Green Hills five days from tonight, Frodo! The Brandybucks will be ready!" Saradoc stormed off, heading to none of them knew where. Frodo turned to Merry, dawning the pleading look that had worked so well on Pippin.  
"Merry, reason with him! Please!" But the eyes that looked back at him were not the laughing eyes of the boy both hobbits were used too. Instead they looked like green steel and ice. His voice was toneless when he spoke.  
"No Frodo. He's right. They've gone to far this time." Frodo was taken aback.  
"Merry..."  
"He can hurt me all he wants Frodo, but...when he hurts my mammy...that's the end of it!" Merry clenched his fists and stared at them with dark eyes. "They have to pay for hurting her, for hurting us."  
"What about Pippin?" Frodo tried, even though he knew he was grasping at straws. For a moment Sam thought he saw a change come over Merry's face. His eyes softened, and he looked almost like the hobbit boy he'd once found wandering near Bag End who'd lost his family while wandering in the woods. He looked...he looked like Frodo after his parents had died, when he'd first come to Bag end and into Bilbo's care. But as quickly as the change came on, it vanished.  
"They have to pay Frodo...for what they've done they all have to pay." Frodo bit his bottom lip and turned away.  
"If you really feel that way, Merry, then I cannot stop you. But you're making a big mistake. Come on Sam." Frodo turned to the door and walked out. Sam looked at Merry for a moment.  
"Do what you're heart tells you, Mister Merry. You're a lot smarter then you let on, that's true, but you're heart will tell you what you're head don't know, and make no mistake." With that Sam turned and followed Frodo. Merry looked after them for a moment, tears suddenly springing to his eyes and he valiantly tried to fight them off.  
"Frodo, Sam, wait!" He called, to soft for them to hear. He couldn't bring himself to yell louder, and he choked back a sob, leaned against the wall behind him, and slid to the floor trembling from head to toe. From somewhere outside, the horn of Buckland rose into the still air.   
AWAKE! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! AWAKE!   
Merry's trembling hand came up to his face, trying to hide the tears that had begun to escape from his valiant effort to hold them back.  
"This is all my fault." He whispered hoarsely.   
  
Bilbo was pacing his study in Bag End, the old map in his hand completely forgotten. Why had he told Frodo there wasn't any hurry? There wasn't time to waste! He had seen what war could do, what it does! It kills people, people you love and care about. The image of you Meriadoc fighting, because he would fight, and dieing on the battlefield was seared into his mind, and shook him to the very core. This war was madness, but they didn't comprehend that because they'd never experienced it! He'd always thought that a bit of excitement would do them all a bit of good, but this was sheer madness! They would learn when they lost their children to a cause neither was sure about. To a cause that they didn't understand, because they really didn't know what they were fighting for. Innocent blood would be shed for a reason that wasn't right either way! He had to make them see just how horrible this whole idea was! If he didn't make them understand then...he shuddered thinking about it as the image resurfaced of the boy's green eyes lifeless and glassy like the eyes of some of his dwarf friends after...  
That could not happen! He would not let it happen! He hoped that Frodo had gotten the message to Paladin in time. They had to have some sense knocked into them, even if he had to do it with a stick!  
"Oh stickle bats!" He yelled to the empty hobbit hole. "Why isn't Gandalf here now?"   
  
End A/N: *hands out Merry plushies to all who answered that Fili and Kili were dwarfs from The Hobbit, which was everyone* Very very good! Fili and Kili were my favorites, and it only seemed fitting that Bilbo name his ponies after them after they...well anyway... Sorry this chapter is so short. But I have homework and stuff to do :P! However, I do know this. There are about five chapters to go, including the next one. I have them all planned out and they're going to be really cool! Later Days!  
-PTB  
  
PS- I noticed that the horn of Buckland wasn't blown since after the fell winter, but it fit so well I didn't want to change it. So, sorry about that little inconsistency!  
  
PPS- *screams, jumping up and down* I have over ninety reviews! You guys ROCK! 


	9. You're heart will know

A/N: I love all you reviewer's soooooo much! I feel soooooo special! I wish I could give you all a real present! But chapter nine is the best I can manage. So, here it comes.   
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 9: You're heart will know  
  
"Papa?" Saradoc turned from where he'd been watching all the young male Brandybucks getting daggers, or being taught to shoot a bow.  
"Merry? What are you doing, lad?"  
"Papa...I want to fight." Saradoc's eyebrows rose in surprise. Him, fight?  
"Nah, Merry-lad, you're but a child. You are too young to fight." Merry's green eyes narrowed, glinting with fierce determination.  
"Merimas is only a year older than me, Papa, and you're letting him fight!"   
"Merimas is eighteen, lad, and you're only..."  
"I'm seventeen, Pap." Saradoc closed his eyes, working out in his head his only child's age. He felt a sudden pang of sadness as he realized, Merry was right. He looked down at the fierce green eyes that stared back at him.  
"I figure that if I'm going to be the reason for this war," Merry said slowly, "then I have no right to just sit back and let others die in it while I'm safe at home." When had his child grown up so? Seemed naught yesterday he was only knee high, and talking about the fairy lights Cousin Frodo, the fantastic, had told him about.   
Yet the hobbit standing in front of him was almost taller than he was, and looked no younger than thirty-three, like he had already come of age. Saradoc gave him a small, sad smile, and laid a hand on his shoulders.  
"There's no stopping you, is there Meriadoc?"  
"No, sir."  
"You'll make a fine master someday, Merry. All of Buckland will remember your name, down through the ages. Lets get you on then, find a good knife, that fits comfortably in your hand, and I'll teach you to throw it" Merry nodded solemnly, and walked over to the table where he handled the knife with grown up care. But under it all he could see the glowing pride at being told he would make a fine master, and Saradoc felt a stab of regret. Was he really such a hard father that he did not tell his son that he noticed how hard he tried to grow up and understand the importance of what he would have to do and become someday? That he was proud of him, for always looking after the little ones, and making sure they were feed and cared for before looking after himself. Had he never told him that he was sure that he would be the best Master Brandyhall had seen or ever would see? Had he not told him he loved him? And now he stood in risk of losing him forever. He had to tell him now, or he might never get the chance!  
"Merry I..."  
"Yes, Papa?" But now that the boy was looking at him, words seemed to have failed him.  
"I think the one before was better. You should look for another one like that."   
"Okay Papa." Saradoc cursed his pride, as Merry picked up two knives with small handles and long blades.  
"Now Merry, first you take the handles like this..." By the end of the day, Merry could hit the target dead on every time.  
"You have a fine eye, my boy!" Old Roary laughed, advancing out of his watching place only when Saradoc had left him to practice on his own.  
"Thank you, sir." Merry was positively glowing with pride. He was one of the best knife throwers in the Shire now, he was sure of it. Roary walked over, and took one of the knives in his hand.   
"So Saradoc's got you convinced in this war too, with his 'To long have Brandybucks been frowned upon' speech has he?" Merry was silent for a moment, though his expression of resolve never faltered.  
"No, sir."  
"Then what are you in it for?"   
"I aim to get my mother back, sir." Roary chuckled, softly to himself.  
"That's right, you're half Took by blood. Though personality is a different story." He turned the knife over in his hands, though his blue eyes never left Merry's face.  
"What do you want out of this war, Merry?"  
"Well sir," Merry answered slowly, "I suppose what I want, realistically speaking, is for things to get back to the way they were before. For Pip an' me to be friends again."  
"Unrealistically?" Roary saw him hesitate, and added quickly, "I won't tell your Papa." Merry seemed satisfied with this reassurance, and even gave him a small smile.  
"I suppose what I want, more than anything sir, is to be like a normal hobbit boy. Not have any whispers following me, and not have to stand up for myself all the time. And for..."Merry gulped, "and for Papa to say that he..." Merry blushed and looked at the ground, "say that he loves me." Roary gave his grandson an encouraging smile.  
"Saradoc loves you, lad, more than anything. And he tells you, in his own way. He may never say outright that he loves you, but you know it just the same."   
"I suppose so, sir. Still, I'd like to know without any doubt." Roary decided to let it drop there, and instead took the handle of the knife in his hand.  
"You think you're any good with this thing, Meriadoc?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"And you think you understand all about war, do you?"  
"I reckon so." What happened next didn't register in his mind until it was over. One second the knife was in his grandfather's hand, the next it was in the tree behind him, the handle only millimeters from his face. Thinking of nothing else to do, Merry simply stood there with wide eyes. Roary came over, and held eye contact while he spoke.  
"I could have killed you then, Merry, if I had wished. I would have, if I didn't care for you so. And the people you'll be fighting, they won't care." He then turned and walked back into the hall, leaning on his waling stick. Merry put a hand up to his smarting face, and felt blood where the knife had grazed.  
  
"Dad?" Hamfast Gamgee looked up from where he was kneeling and planting some petunias, to his son who was red faced and kneeling beside him.   
"If you've finished trimming the grass, ye can start weeding the vegetables."  
"Yes, sir." But Sam didn't move. With a sigh, the Gaffer put down his trowel.   
"Something the matter, son?"  
"Well sir, it's this whole war business. Seems to me neither of them is right."  
"Now don't go talkin' about things that are over yer head, Samwise. Ye shouldn't be messing with the business of your betters." Sam nodded, but looked like he was still concerned about something, so Hamfast turned to him, and broke some of his own rules. "What do you mean neither side is right?"  
"Well, sir, it wasn't right of Mister Paladin to do what he did to Mister Merry. Hobbits aught not treat others such, no matter they're different. But Mister Saradoc over reacted, in a matter of speaking. 'Tis worth getting mad over, no mistake, but not starting a war over." Hamfast nodded, and looked at his son sternly.  
"Ye aught not go messing in the business of yer betters, Samwise. You'll get yourself in trouble carrying on like that."   
"I'm sorry, sir," Sam stammered, "I just..."  
"Let me finish, lad! Tough you have a right to understand this much I suppose." Sam blinked, and watched his father silently. "You're right that hobbits shouldn't treat others like they do, just because they're different. But you can't change the way of the world just because folks like us think they're not right. One little hobbit won't make a difference."  
"But if a bunch of us got together we could..."  
"Now yer dreamin' to big for yer boots, Samwise. Whose gonna' listen to a couple hobbits like us?"   
"But if we..."  
"Stop trying to use yer head, Samwise, it's not the best part of you. Let them big, good off folk do what they're going to do. Ye just stay here an' serve Mister Bilbo, like a good lad. Keep your nose out of trouble, and no trouble'll come to you. Now I'll have more no more of this! Go get your hands in that patch an' weed it!" Sam sighed, and walked to the other side of the hill, feeling more confused and none to reassured.  
  
End A/N: Well, now we're down to the home stretch! I hope you've liked it so far! I've read about three stories with Merry throwing his knife, and always being true, which gave me the idea for the knife thing. Anyway, later days! 


	10. Home

A/N: I love you guys all so much! You're reviews make my day, really they do! And we're in the double digits now! Whoopee! I really like this chapter, because I get to use four characters used either not at all, or very little, in this story.  
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 10: Home  
  
Peregrin Took looked out his low window sadly, to where the Took army stood armed with sharp farm tools and clothed in heavy leather for protection. A single tear fell down his face, and he sniffled, drawing the attention of his three sisters that were sitting in his room.   
"Come here, goose," Pimpernel whispered, opening her arms to him, and the small hobbit climbed onto her lap. She hugged him close, and kissed his brownish black curls. "Don't cry baby. It's all right. I'm here." For once Pippin didn't protest at being called baby, and instead snuggled up to his sister's chest.  
"Why are they doing this, Pimmie? Aunt Esmie said that the Brandybucks have done nothing wrong."   
"I know goose, I know." Pervincia jumped to her feet, hands clenched at her sides.  
"I'll tell you what those Brandybucks have done wrong, Pip! They're weird, that's what! You know Merry well, don't 'cha? Well, doesn't he always act different than us and Frodo and even Samwise Gamgee? Isn't he a little, well, crude? A little ungentlemanly like?"   
"He does not! He's Merry!" Pippin cried. Pervincia huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.   
"Were you not the one who told him that he should leave, Peregrin?" Tears sprang into the boy's brilliant blue eyes.  
"I didn't mean it! I thought I did but I..."  
"Now you stop it 'Vincia!" Pearl got to her feet, and glared at her youngest sister. "You know Pippin didn't mean nothing by it, or at least he shouldn't! Da' is wrong about this and you know it!"  
"You take that back Pearl Took!" Pervincia face flushed with anger and she clenched her fists, for the moment not caring that Peal was eleven years her senior. "Da' is never wrong! Never! And if he says the Brandybuck's are horrid then they are!"   
"They're not and you know it! What's Merry ever done when he's been here? And you're odd too, Pervincia, and we don't hold it against you!"  
"Could it be..." Pimpernel whispered, not looking at the arguing girls, "could it be that they're both wrong?"  
"Of course not!" Peal and Pervincia yelled at the same time, before rounding on each other again.  
"Merry has horrible manners! He always pushes his way to the table, and never says please pass anything!"  
"Well if Brandyhall is like Pippin says, then that's how he grew up and he has a right to be that way!"  
"But this isn't Brandyhall! And if they all behave like that I can only imagine what catastrophes meals are!"  
"He's only a boy, Pervincia, and one older than you too! You should know better than to talk bad about you're elders!" Pervincia looked very flustered by this, and her hazel eyes glittered with rage.  
"Saradoc kidnapped Aunt Esmie!" She tried, using the only thing that didn't seem to be able to be proved or disproved.   
"Aunt Esmie said he didn't, and I think she would know!" Pervincia gasped, and Pimpernel and Pippin looked at the eldest sister with wide eyes.  
"You've been talking to Aunt Esmie!" Pearl's eyes had a gleam none of them had ever seen, her cheeks were flushed with anger, and her hair was falling out of its long thick braid.  
"Yes. Yes I have, and I'm not ashamed of it! Da' keeping her here like this is wrong, because it IS kidnapping! I'd let her out if I could, and send her back to her home!"   
"Pearl Took that could be taken as high treason to the Thain! You could get in real trouble for that!"   
"I don't care! I'm right, and Da' isn't! And I won't get in trouble if you don't tell!"   
"Please," Pimpernel pleaded, cuddling Pippin as tight as she dared, "please don't fight. You're only making things worse. And...and you're frightening Pippin!" It was a hasty excuse, but true all the same. Poor Pippin's eyes were as wide as they could get, and he looked like a severely scolded child, who had done nothing wrong.   
"Oh Pygmy," Pearl sighed, using her pet name for him, "don't be afraid. Pervincia won't tell on me."  
"You think I won't!" Pervincia snapped, eyes narrowed, and seeming to not care about how distressed her little brother was. "You just watch me, Pearl, if I get the chance! You shouldn't talk about Da' like that! He loves us and he'd never lie! Never!"  
"I didn't say he was!" Pearl snapped back, "I said that he was ignorant! He doesn't know as much as he thinks he does about Brandybucks, and he's making a mistake by doing it! Do you realize, oh so smart one that people are going to die because of this? Some of our cousin's might die because of this!"  
"M...Merry?" Pippin whimpered, eyes getting wet, and Pimpernel kissed the top of his head.  
"No baby, not..."  
"Yes!" Pearl said fiercely, for a moment forgetting that it wasn't Pervincia she was talking to. "Yes even Merry could die in this! Merry who's done nothing will die!" She didn't realize her mistake until after Pippin gasped, and burst into a flood of tears.   
"Not Merry! Merry can't die, 'cause of me! He can't!" He turned so that his face was buried in Pimpernel's chest. She cuddled him, and kissed him, whispering softly.  
"Sh...Pippin sh...Merry won't die. It's okay baby, it's okay." The whole time she was glaring at the two sisters, who both looked equally guilty and uncomfortable.   
"What if he...what if he does, Pimmie? He'll think I hate him!" Pippin sobbed, near hysterics. Pearl leaned in closer, her fingertips outstretched to touch her brother's fine curls.  
"Pip I..."   
"Don't you think you've caused enough trouble!" Pimpernel snapped, in a very unlike her way that caused the other two to jump, and she stepped back with Pippin cuddled in her arms. "He was frightened enough as he was! You two only made it worse!" With a glare that made both girls wriggle uncomfortably, Pimpernel strode out of the room. Once they were out of the room, the undeniable tears started falling again.  
"Merry is going to die isn't he? He'll think I hate him when he dies, won't he?"  
"Oh baby," Pimpernel cooed, rubbing her nose against his sniffling one, "Merry knows better. Merry knows you didn't mean it. Merry loves you!" Pippin hiccupped, and his blue eyes were filled with woe.  
"Does he still love me now Pimmie? After all this?"   
"Of course he does baby, how could he not?"   
  
  
"NO!" Pippin's heart breaking wail echoed throughout the Smails. They could NOT make him do this!   
"Oh goose, come on. We're just going to stay with Uncle Bilbo until all this is sorted out." Pearl tried to convince, taking her little brother's hand. The child only shrieked indignantly and pulled his hand out.   
"No! I have to find Merry! I have to set things right!"  
"Pippin! He's probably on his way to Green Hill country! You won't find him now!" Pervincia stamped her foot, and grabbed a pudgy little arm. Pippin screamed, and pulled.  
"No! No you can't make me! I have to find him! I have to!" With all the strength in his small frame he swung his foot, and hit his sister in the shin. Pervincia let out a yelp, and let go of his arm. With speed like he'd never had before, Pippin ran out the door and away across the fields. His sisters could only stare after him.  
  
  
End A/N: Okay the ending is rather abrupt, I know. There's supposed to be a big fight scene between Bilbo and Paladin, but this chapter wasn't working like I wanted to. I just knew that I had to get Pippin out in this chapter or the story would go to long. So, this is the end of chapter ten, and I promise that eleven shall be better. 


	11. Kinds of Courage

A/N: Well, I have a lot of ground to cover in this chapter (literally) if I'm going to do it right. So, here we go!  
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 11: Courage  
  
It was muddy, and that was about all that Merry knew. He knew he should be cold, as it was raining steadily, and that he should be hungry, this march had cost them two meals already, but somehow he didn't feel anything at all. Except the mud squelching under his foot. His head felt like it was spinning, and all he could hear was his Grandfather's voice.  
"I could have killed you then, Merry, if I had wished. I would have, if I didn't care for you so. And the people you'll be fighting, they won't care." Could he really die? Could he really be marching to his death site? He was at the very back of a long line of Brandybucks. How many of them would die this day, on the green hills? Merry felt his chest heave, and realized that he was close to crying. His bottom lip trembled, and his eyes were stinging. Something in him was screaming. He shouldn't be here! He couldn't die, he couldn't!   
He was running away and out of sight of the road before he even realized he was moving. He kept running, all other thought but that escaping him, until he slipped and fell in the mud, his chest heaving and gasping for oxygen. With blurred vision, Merry tried to take in his surroundings. He was in the forest, not far from Green Hill Country, but that was all he could really tell.   
"Steady Brandybuck," Merry whispered to himself, looking around with wide eyes, between his shaking gasps, "you need to calm down, or you'll never get out of this mess. Think of your geography!" Merry looked around, and imagining the map of the Shire his mother had made him study for hours. "If we were going down the road that travels from Buckleberry Ferry, to Stock, and then down from to green hill country, we would have been near Wood Hall when I took off." This didn't help him very much, but at least he had some idea of where he was and what direction home was. Still, he couldn't go home! Everyone would know he was a coward!  
Merry shuddered at the word. Coward. He was a coward! Merry's face burned with shame. He was a coward and a shame to Brandybucks! Merry clenched his fists, and leaned his head against a nearby tree. Of all things he could possibly do, he had to lose his nerve when it was most important for him not too!   
"Never again shall I be a coward!" He swore to the empty forest. "Never again will I let my courage fail me! No matter what!" A shrill cry echoed through the forest and Merry looked up.   
"Help!" It came again, and Merry recognized the voice. His eyes went wide, and he let out a kind of strangled cry.   
"Pippin!" Not entirely sure of the direction he was running, as he was mostly in a blind panic, Merry took off through the underbrush. Branches whipped across his face, and tore at his bare skin on his arms and legs. He splashed into an icy cold stream, let out a cry, and slipped face first into it. It took him a minute to gather his wits again, but once he did he was off faster than ever. "Pip! Pippin I'm coming! Hold on!"  
  
Sam sat quietly in the rain on top of one of the hills overlooking where the armies would meet, his cloak pulled over his head. Frodo sat silently by his side, not bothering to try and shield himself from the rain. If they looked down one direction they could see the armies of Tuckbraugh coming, and the other direction the armies of Buckland. They had not come to watch, they'd come to prevent it if possible.   
"This is it Sam," Frodo whispered, "this is what we've been waiting for. The end to end all ends."  
"Don't say that Mister Frodo!" Sam cried in dismay. "There must be something we can do yet!" Frodo smiled a little to himself, but his blue eyes remained sad.  
"I don't know what we can do Sam," He said at last, as the two armies came to a halt facing each other. There was silence for a few minutes, and Frodo began to laugh slightly. "They don't know what to do either. Hobbits aren't meant for war Sam. We never were. War is a hard and stupid thing." Sam nodded, but looked up suddenly. Something was coming through the rain toward the armies. Squinting he saw it was actually two somethings. Two somethings that looked a lot like...  
"Esmie and Eglantine!" Frodo yelled jumping up. He ran down the slope to hear what they had to say, and Sam followed close behind.   
"...You're doing Eglantine?" They heard Paladin yelling over the wind. Saradoc simply ran to his wife and embraced her.   
"Paladin this is insane, you know that! They're just boys, here, and this isn't worth fighting over. This is all a misunderstanding, and you're jumping to conclusions again. The Brandybucks have done nothing wrong! And now Pippin's gone missing..."  
"He's what?!" Paladin roared it, and Frodo gasped it at the same time.   
"You heard me Paladin Took! You're son has gone missing; because he was so afraid Merry would be killed down here thinking that he hated him! He was going to come down here and tell Merry he didn't!" Her bright eyes suddenly widened. "You haven't seen him?" Paladin shook his head. At this moment, Esmerlda pulled out of her embrace with her husband, and looked around.  
"Where's Meriadoc?" Forgetting for the moment that his wife would be furious for letting Merry fight, in his excitement of having his wife back safe and sound, yelled over his shoulder.  
"Merry, lad, it's alright! Come here! It's your Mammy!" When there was no answering yelp of joy, Saradoc looked very confused.  
"Merry? Where are you lad?" The army of Buckland turned around, and where surprised to see the heir that had been following them in silence had disappeared. Saradoc and Paladin turned to each other in anger.  
"This is all you're fault!" They roared together.  
"If not for the example of you're boy, mine wouldn't have run!"  
"You've already proven you're capable of kidnapping, Took!"  
"There they go again." Frodo muttered. "Don't they realize they have more important things to worry about? Wolves have been seen in these parts, my cousin Deridic said when he came yesterday." As if realizing what he'd just said Frodo chocked. "Sam! We have to find them! Come one!" Frodo tried to bold up the hill, but seemed only able to slip on the wet grass.  
Seeing Frodo so frightened about the safety of his cousins only frightened Sam, and that in turn made him angry. Brown eyes blazing with sudden with fire, he turned around and raced toward the center of the field in between the two armies. He stood facing the two fighting leaders. When they didn't look at him, he yelled out in fury.  
"Don't you see what you're doing?" Paladin and Saradoc looked at him in surprise. Both knew who he was, and both were surprised. "Don't you see what you're doing?" He said again, quietly. "You're forgetting about what's important to you. You're sons are out there, and they might be in danger! You're the same, because you both love them. Don't you?" Saradoc and Paladin looked at each other, and nodded once.  
"Lets go."  
  
"HELP!" Merry slid down the last hill, into Willow bottom. What he saw frightened him deeply. Pippin was leaning with his back again a low stonewall, left from an old farm. And in front of him was a gigantic dog. But this wasn't any dog as Merry has ever seen them. It was bigger than he was, and covered in a layer of thick shaggy gray hair, and it had teeth about as big as Pippin. What Merry was staring at was a wolf.  
"PIPPIN!"  
  
  
End A/N: Dun dun dun! Now, I shall have to leave you here for now! But we're getting into the next bit REALLY soon! I promise! No one die! 


	12. Meriadoc's Last Stand?

A/N: Are we prepared for the part I've been working up to? I know I'm not. But here we go anyway. Merry's Lull-a-bye was written by my best friend, Halogatomon. YOU RULE GIRL!  
  
Rusta Iira   
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 12: Meriadoc's Last Stand?  
  
"Pippin!" Merry thought that the sword flew to his hand, and he jumped in front of Pippin with both his knives out. "You let him alone!" The wolf snarled, showing it long white fangs, but was to surprised for the moment to attack him.  
"M-m-merry?" Pippin whimpered. Merry didn't turn around, but Pippin could see the smile that crossed his face.  
"Yes Pippin, it's me. Don't worry, I won't let it hurt you." Pippin nodded, and became silent except for his hiccupping sobs. Merry held a knife in both hands.  
"You let him alone! Go!" He waved the knives at the wolf, trying to get him to run. The wolf growled deeply and snapped at his waving hands. Merry felt fear rise up in him, but used a technique he often used when dealing with grief and placed the feeling at the back of his mind.  
"Get over the wall, Pip." Pippin looked at him, eyes wide.   
"Merry..."  
"Now Pippin! But don't run. Don't make any sudden movements, just get over the wall." The nine year old hiccupped, and nodded, before slowly rising to his feet. Shakily he began to back up. Just as his fingertips reached the wall the wolf barked and lunged at him. Pippin cried out, and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain that would surly come. When it didn't he opened his eyes, and looked in surprise. It took a moment for what was happening in front of him to register, and when it did he gasped and yelled out again.  
"Merry!" The seventeen-year-old boy was standing in front of him, feet digging into the ground. His knives lay discarded where he had been standing moments before. The wolf was standing part of the way on its hind legs, it's front paws resting on Merry's shoulders. The wolf's jaws were clenched tight around Merry's right arm.   
"Run...Pippin..." Merry said through clenched teeth, eyes watering with pain, but Pippin was frozen in place. Using his left arm, Merry swung up and caught the wolf with a powerful blow in the neck. It yelped, letting go of Merry's arm, and sprang backward temporarily. Merry gasped as he lowered his arm, which now had blood flowing down it freely.  
"Move Pip! Get out of here!" He yelled without looking over his shoulder. He didn't have too; he knew Pippin would still be standing there. The wolf lunged again, this time directly at Merry. It landed on his chest, weight pushing full force. As Merry fell backward he heard a crack, and felt pain both in the back of his head and his chest. The wolf began trying to bite anywhere he could get a hold. Face, neck, arms, it mattered not. This creature had caused him pain, and it was going to die for it! Merry yelled, and tried to land a good enough blow to get the thing away. Something smooth and gray whistled through the air, and hit the wolf in the head. It turned to look at what was doing this to it.   
Pippin let fly another stone.  
"Let him go! Let him go!" The wolf growled and got off Merry, who was struggling for breath through the pain. Pippin let the stone he was holding fall, suddenly claimed by panic. He whimpered and pressed himself to the wall, getting as small as he could. The wolf came closer and closer, he could smell Merry's blood on its breath, and it was just about to lunge when something hit him heavily in the side. The wolf yelped as Merry attacked it in blind rage, armed only with his fists and feet. He only got a few good beatings though, as the wolf began to attack back. He could hear Pippin screaming something, but didn't understand. He just had to protect Pippin, he had too! He felt sudden pain in his chest and realized the wolf had found a hold. Merry didn't dare look down himself, knowing that if he did he probably would die that instant. He reached out his shaking right arm, trying desperately to find ianything/i to fight with. His hand ran across something sharp, his knife. One hand closed around the handle, and then it came up and struck the wolf in the chest with all the might he could muster. Warm wolf blood spilled over his hand and down his arm, mingling with his own. The wolf froze, and looked at him with uncomprehending amber eyes before falling limp on top of him. He felt and heard his right arm snap but did not care.   
The wolf had been dead for no more than ten seconds before Pippin ran over, pushed it off his cousin, and took Merry's head in his lap. Seeing the injuries his cousin had sustained, he gasped and began to cry.  
"I'm sorry Merry, I'm sorry!" Pippin sobbed, leaning his forehead again the older lad's.  
"Whatever...for...Pip?" Merry gasped, trying to give his cousin a reassuring smile but only managed to grimace in pain. Pippin's small frame began to tremble.  
"For everything! I don't hate you Merry, I never did! I didn't mean it!"   
"I know...Pip. I know." Pippin sobbed, cradling Merry's head in his lap.  
"Don't die on me." He whispered, his tears of sorrow mixing with Merry's tears of pain.  
"I don't think...I can really choose...Pip." He was struggling for breath, and the world was fading. "Are you...all...right?" Pippin sobbed.  
"How can you be worried about me when you're going to leave me!" He shrieked. "I can't live without you Merry, I can't! I can't!" Merry's eyes were beginning to glaze over, and Pippin became desperate to keep him awake and said the first thing that came to his mind. "Sing for me Merry!" Merry laughed, which was more than half cough.  
"I don't know if...I can Pip..."  
"Please! One...one last..." He couldn't bring himself to finish. Merry brought up his left hand painfully, and wiped some tears from Pippin's cheeks with his thumb.  
"One last time then..." he whispered. Where the strength to sing came from, he didn't know, but come it did. His voice rang crystal clear through the silent forest and rain.  
  
i May the wind always whisper your name  
May the stars shine every brighter  
May the sun rise ever higher  
May our friendship always be the same  
  
May the storm clouds never gather over your head  
May the sun shine everyday of your life  
May the eagle make your soul learn to fly  
  
Cause I will always be there  
I'll never leave your side  
You know I'll never let you fall  
I'll be there to catch you  
  
There's so much you have to learn  
There's so much you need to do  
There's so much I have to say  
But there's so little time to say  
The words I need to tell you  
  
You mean so much to me  
I could never let you go  
Just call my name little child  
And I will be there  
To hold you when the rain falls  
To wipe the tears from your eyes  
To sing you a song when you need comfort  
I will be there  
  
Tell me, oh please tell me  
Just how you feel  
Don't be afraid to leave anything out  
I want to know the truth  
I want to know you will be there  
As I will be there for you/i   
  
Merry's voice shook as he tried to sing the next part, with Pippin's tears falling down his face and becoming one with his own and the rain.  
  
i I need to know, I need to know  
Tell me, is sorry enough?  
Is sorry enough to shed away the differences?  
Will sorry be enough to tell you  
Just how much I love you  
Cause I will be always be there  
Though my heart bleeds  
Is sorry enough?/i   
  
Pippin was near hysterics by this time, and when the song ended, Merry didn't move. In fact he was smiling blissfully, like all the pain had been taken away. Panic seized the small child, and he shook his cousin gently.  
"Merry? Merry? MERRY!" His final cry was desperate, and when no response came, he hunched forward and let out choked sobs. The tears would never stop now that Merry was gone! Never! He didn't want them to stop! He just wanted to stay here and cry forever and ever! He kissed Merry's cold forehead, before letting it fall into the mud. He then crawled over and curled up into Merry's side, like he'd done so many times before when he'd had a nightmare while in Buckland, and cried until he had no more tears to cry, and then he still sobbed.  
  
That was how Saradoc, Paladin, Frodo, and Sam found them a half and hour later. They had heard the sounds of the battle, and come as fast as they could, but the got turned around and ended up where they'd begun! Then they'd heard Merry singing, and followed that as long as they could, fearing it wasn't to late. When they entered the area, they all had different reactions. Frodo took a step back with a gasp, and then fell weakly to his knees. Sam simply stared in disbelief, eyes and mouth agape. Paladin ran over and scooped the trembling Pippin into his arms and hugged the soaked and sobbing child to him as tight as possible.  
"Da's here Pippin, Da's here. I won't let you go!" Saradoc dropped the latern he'd been caring, ran over and fell to his knees beside his son. He took the limp and still form in his arms, and began to sob heavily into the bloody chest.  
"Merry! Oh Merry! No! I love you Merry! Don't leave your Papa!" Saradoc was shaking, and he chocked on his sob when Merry didn't respond at all. Pippin looked at his father with red-rimmed eyes, and had an expression that he would never be happy again.  
"Merry saved me from the wolves Da'! He wouldn't let him touch me! He died because of me Da'! Because of me!" Pippin sobbed again, and buried his face in Paladin's shoulder.   
Paladin cuddled him for a while, fighting his own tears. After all he'd said and done to the boy, he's still risk himself to save his precious son? He's still die for him? With trembling arms and legs he walked over to Saradoc, and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
"There is still hope yet, if we hurry."  
  
End A/N: This was planned from the beginning, and I hope that you all enjoyed it. Still one more chapter to go! *decides maybe she better run from angry fans* MEEP! 


	13. The End

A/N: Well, this is the end. The first chapter LotR fic that I've ever finished, and I have to say that I'm proud of it. This is my first fic to break thirty reviews, let alone over a hundred, lol! I hope you all enjoy the ending very much, like I enjoyed your reviews.  
  
Rusta Iira  
By: PTB  
  
Chapter 13: Dawn is breaking  
  
  
That...light...hurt! Why didn't someone turn it off? That would make it so much easier to open his eyes! Voices were buzzing in his ears, and it was rather annoying when you already have a headache to have lots of little noises you can't quite comprehend.   
"...Nothing more you can do?"  
"He'll...just needs rest." Gandalf? Had he heard Gandalf? Breathing heavily, and cursing in his mind, he forced his eyes open. He was in a bright open room, somewhere he'd never been before. His head and chest hurt. Actually, now that he thought about it, everything hurt! With a soft groan he turned his head toward the light, and blinked painfully. His father was standing by his side, one hand in his own, talking to someone in the chair next to him. That someone had a tall pointy hat, a long staff, and flowing gray robes.  
"Gandalf?" He choked in a whisper. Talking hurt! Both Saradoc and Gandalf turned to him, both with looks of mild surprise.  
"Merry!" Saradoc yelled, and looked as those he was about to burst into tears, a thought that rather alarmed Merry. His Papa never cried!  
"I'm alright Papa, really." He gave his father a weak smile. Saradoc grabbed his left hand and rubbed it against his own cheek.  
"Merry, I love you. More than anything in the world." Warmth spread over his whole body, and the smile he gave his dad then was a whole hearted one.   
"I know, Papa."  
"You really scared me!" Saradoc kissed his son's bandaged forehead. "Promise me you'll never do that to me again!"  
"I promise, Papa. Really, I do." Saradoc smiled at him lovingly, and gave his son's left hand one more squeeze.  
"I'm going to go get your Mammy. She's been worried sick about you!"  
"Mammy?" Merry's eyes lit up, and he tried to sit up but that hurt too much so he just looked at them. "She's here? She's okay?" Saradoc nodded.  
"I'll explain, Saradoc," Gandalf smiled at the hobbit gently, "you go look after you're wife." Saradoc nodded, appreciatively, let go of Merry's hand and left the room. Merry tried to struggle up to his elbows, but Gandalf lay a gentle hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down again.  
"To much movement will reopen those wounds, Meriadoc." Merry blinked at the old wizard in surprise.  
"Gandalf what happened? How'd I get here? I thought that I had..." Merry didn't finish, but he didn't need to. Gandalf looked at him, with twinkling blue eyes.  
"So did everyone else. You're father and some others found you naught a half hour after it seemed your spirit had parted from this world. They brought you here to the Great Smails and were very surprised to see me and Bilbo standing there."   
"What were you doing there? Or is it here?"  
"It's here. And I was just on my way to see the poor old fellow, when he came charging down the road looking very distraught. Seems that young Peregrin's sisters showed up on Bilbo's doorstep, and explained that you had run away from them. He remembered what one of his cousin's had said yesterday about wolves, and ran to go find him because he thought no one else would. We'd only just gotten to the Smails, when your father showed up with you in his arms." Gandalf took out his pipe, and lit it, before continuing. "At first glance we thought that you had been killed by that wolf, but then we realized that you were breathing faintly! I worked quickly, and bandaged the worst of your wounds. I also set your arm. The whole time Peregrin was running around my feet in a panic."  
"Pippin..." Merry whispered, and looked at the wizard urgently. "Is he alright? That wolf never did manage to hurt him, did it?" Gandalf smiled at him.  
"No. Thanks to you, little Pippin remains physically unharmed. And it seems that you're bravery has stopped this war entirely, Meriadoc."   
"Bravery, sir? I'm not brave! I..."  
"Simply stood up to a full grown wolf that could have snapped you in half without much trouble?" Gandalf motioned to Merry's bandaged chest with his pipe. "The mark is a good four inches wide and very deep. According to Pippin, that wolf was bigger than you."  
"Yes, it was." Merry said in surprise, as if just realizing it.   
"Paladin has made an official order as Thain," Gandalf gave him a warm smile, "no one is allowed to beat a Brandybuck simply because of their name anymore. He said he can't do anything about what they might say, but he wishes he could."  
"No, that's fine!" Merry gasped in delight. This was something he had not thought about. "So all is forgiven then?"  
"Yes, it is. Because of you're courage."   
"This means I can see..." Something small flew into the room, climbed onto the bed, and had buried its face in his side before Merry managed to finish his sentence. "Pippin!"   
"Merry I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean for you to get hurt, and I never hated you Merry! I'm really really sorry!" Merry smiled, and hugged Pippin gently with his left arm, and kissed the soft brown curls.   
"I know Pippin, and I'm sorry I ever doubted you."  
"You almost died because of me, Merry!"  
"No," Merry whispered soothingly, "I almost died because I love you." Pippin hugged him gently, very much aware of the bandages around his cousin's chest.  
"I love you too, Merry! You're my very best friend in the whole wide world!"  
"And you're mine too, Pippers."  
"And we'll always be friends forever, won't we?"  
"Yeah, forever!" Both laughed, and looked over at Gandalf when he cleared his throat.  
"What is it Gandalf?"  
"Merry, did any of the wolf's blood get into your cuts when you killed it?" Merry blinked, fighting to remember.  
"Yes...I think so. Why Gandalf?"  
"Oh, no reason." Merry shrugged at Pippin, who shook his head back. Suddenly a clear tenor voice rang throughout the Smails.  
"MERIADOC BRANDYBUCK I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Both young hobbits' eyes widened. Frodo had been told.  
  
THE END  
  
End A/N: I hope you all loved this story as much as I did! *grins* I hope you all are looking forward to my upcoming attractions, Ohana and More Naar.   
More Naar will explain why Gandalf wanted to know about the wolf blood, don't worry ;). Bye all! 


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